Monthly Archives: February 2015

The story about Tommy Wharton and I KISSED A GHOUL actually started with the publication of another book called RUSTY THE ROBOT’S HOLIDAY ADVENTURES, a science fiction kid’s book I co-written with Sherry Decker. I had a lot of fun writing RUSTY and decided to write a Young Adult Book.
Shortly after RUSTY THE ROBOT’S HOLIDAY ADVENTURES was published, I jumped right into it and wrote I KISSED A GHOUL. I had a lot of fun writing the book, several times I had to stop, because I was laughing so hard. This was going to be my tribute to both horror writer Richard Laymon and my years at West High School in Davenport, Iowa.
I send I KISSED A GHOUL off to my first publisher and they accepted. It was a dream come true. Noble Young Adult accepted the publication and gave me a nice advance as well. I had my friend and collaborator Ken Lillie-Paetz (who co-written a tale with me in A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FIENDS) and Monkey Pharmacy Studios do a groovy cover of Tommy going to his prom with a sexy vampire gal.
Horror writer Bentley Little even wrote a great introduction for the book and Gerard Houarner wrote the afterword.
Not only do I get my first YA published the ebook ended up on the Bram Stoker Final Ballot for “Superior Achievement for Young Adult Novel Category.”
I was more happy than comedian Fluffy at a buffet.
Then the dream quickly becomes a nightmare. The book doesn’t win a Bram Stoker and the publisher went out of business a week later.
And to top things off … I was laid off from my job at the college, where I worked for 15 years.
Normally such a situation would be discouraging. But I believed in Tommy Wharton and the book.
I end up sending the book out to another publisher Curiosity Quill Press and they ended publishing the book on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2015.

(The cover for Noble Young Adult)

Like YA paranormal with a kick? This book was just plain laugh out loud fun to write. Plus it’s got it all: Werewolves, vampires and a succubus. They ain’t got nothing over wannabe-cool teen Tommy. Forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer, here’s a regular joe hero who falls down, kicks butt & keeps trying to get some.
You would think that being the mayor’s son would automatically make you popular. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for Tommy Wharton. As a matter of fact, he gets picked on for being overweight. However, there are some perks like using his dad’s campaign van and credit card.
Tommy is just like the average teenage boy. His hormones are raging and all he thinks about is having sex. The only problem is that he can never seal the deal. Every time he is about to get lucky, something always ruins it. This is so frustrating to Tommy. It seems that he has no good luck. Not to mention that he constantly finds himself in the presence of monsters – vampires, werewolves, succubus. You name it, he finds them.

(The CQP cover)

People have asked me, why I’d want to write a YA book about an overweight teenage boy who is a nerd and tries to score all the time. I watched “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” and “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” and thought: These characters are the 1%: Cheerleaders, Football players, the Class President, Etc. I wasn’t interested in yet another book about a popular skinny teen. I wanted to write a book about the rest of us: .. the weirdos, the geeks, the freaks, the stoners, the loners, the losers and the dreamers. My message, if there is a message to learn from the book is: It is okay to be different, you don’t have to be popular to be cool, just be yourself. I wanted to have a regular joe for a hero – and that is was about time in the genres! I hope the readers find it a great message to send to teens as well.

On February 3, 1959 a cold wintery day that music died – Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and other died when a plane crashed after taking off from Clear Lake, Iowa.

I’m reprinting my interview with The Drummer of The Crickets. The interview originally appeared in ESOTERIA-LAND, which is now out of print.

THAT’LL BE THE DAY
An Interview With Jerry Allison Of Buddy Holly & The Crickets
By Michael McCarty

When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll legends, few have been as influential or so deserving of accolades as Buddy Holly.
Jerry Allison, the drummer of The Crickets, pounded the skins on such classics as “That’ll Be the Day” (which he co-wrote with Holly), “Oh Boy,” “It’s So Easy,” “Peggy Sue” (another song he co-wrote), “Well…All Right,” “Maybe Baby,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Everyday,” and “Rave On.”
I talked with Allison on the phone about Holly and his legacy, and here is what we discussed….

(A photo of Buddy Holly & The Crickets)

MICHAEL McCARTY: With the tribute CD and TNN special, and the stamp released a few years ago, do you think Buddy Holly is finally getting the recognition he deserves?

JERRY ALLISON: I think so. Buddy was really a good rocker and he influenced a lot of people. I think it’s good he’s getting this recognition. And I hope he gets a lot more (laughs).

McCARTY: Are you pleased with the CD?

ALLISON: I think it’s really good. Nobody tried to do the exact same arrangements. I’m really proud to be part of it.

McCARTY: You co-wrote “That’ll Be the Day.” How did that song come about?

ALLISON: Buddy and I were sitting around just practicing. He was playing the guitar and I was playing the drums. He said we ought to write a song, because we never wrote one together before. We saw the John Wayne movie, The Searchers, a few days before that. John Wayne said, “That’ll be the day” about five times in that movie. It was a catchy saying in the film. And when Buddy said, let’s write a song – I said, ‘That’ll be the day!” and he said, “That’s a good idea.”

McCARTY: There have been a lot of covers of Buddy Holly songs over the years. What are some of your favorites?

ALLISON: “Not Fade Away” by The Rolling Stones is great. I really like Linda Ronstadt’s ‘That’ll Be the Day,” Blind Faith’s “Well…All Right” – that was good. Waylon Jennings did a medley of songs on his Always Be Crazy album – I played the drums and Sonny Curtis played guitar.

McCARTY: Have you heard the band Weezer’s song, “Buddy Holly”?

ALLISON: No, I haven’t. I saw a little bit of the video once. I live in the country here in Tennessee. This isn’t exactly Weezer country here (laughs).

McCARTY: Is Paul McCartney, who owns the rights to Buddy Holly’s catalog, doing a good job preserving Buddy’s songs?

ALLISON: I think he’s doing a great job. He has had a Buddy Holly Week for the last twenty years. He’s doing a great job keeping the interest up. There’s a lot of interest this year because of the CD and TV show. But a lot of years, there wasn’t anything shaking. But Paul would always have some sort of deal to keep people interested.